Week in Brief
Gold spreads widened to 8.692 USD average on 21 August as XAU/USD rallied toward 4,600. EUR/USD stayed stable near 0.90 to 0.904 pips all week despite a broker-count dip to 8 on 20 August. GBP/USD spreads widened sharply, from 1.132 pips on 17 August to 1.281 on 21 August, coinciding with UK PMI beating expectations and GBP hitting six-month highs.
Spread Movements by Instrument
EUR/USD
stable- Week range
- 0.871 to 0.904 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips all week
- Notable
- The 20 August dip to 0.871 average coincides with broker count dropping to 8 from 9, a coverage artifact rather than a genuine tightening.
GBP/USD
widened- Week range
- 1.1 to 1.281 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips most days, Pepperstone at 0.2 on 21 August
- Notable
- Average jumped from 1.1 on 20 August to 1.281 on 21 August, the same day UK PMI data pushed GBP to six-month highs.
USD/JPY
stable- Week range
- 1.029 pips average across brokers, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips every day
- Notable
- Flat 1.029 average across all 5 days with consistent 7-broker coverage, the most stable pair this week.
XAU/USD
widened- Week range
- 7.054 to 8.692 USD average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.12 USD all week
- Notable
- Average widened from 7.054 to 8.692 USD as gold rallied toward 4,600, on coverage of only 4 to 5 brokers.
WTI/USD
widened- Week range
- 1.672 to 1.863 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- Swissquote at 0.052 to 0.062 points
- Notable
- Average rose from 1.672 on 17 August to a peak of 1.863 on 20 August, with only 4 to 5 brokers reporting, a thin sample.
US500
stable- Week range
- 0.675 to 0.725 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 0.4 points all week
- Notable
- Only 4 brokers cover US500 all week, average held near 0.675 to 0.7 with a single-day bump to 0.725 on 19 August.
GER40
stable- Week range
- 4.477 points average, unchanged all week
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 1.4 points all week
- Notable
- Flat 4.477 average every day, but only 3 brokers report this instrument, below the reliability threshold.
NAS100
tightened- Week range
- 1.4 to 1.567 points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 0.8 points all week
- Notable
- Average eased from 1.567 on 18 August to 1.4 on 21 August, though only 3 brokers report, making the move thin.
BTC/USD
widened- Week range
- 20 to 23.36 price-points average across brokers
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 15 to 16.4 price-points
- Notable
- Average swung from 22.253 to 20 to 23.36 across the week with only 2 to 3 brokers reporting, a thin and volatile sample.
Broker Spotlight
BlackBull Markets was the tightest broker overall, topping the cheapest-broker tally with 19 of 45 key instrument-days, and held the lowest quote on EUR/USD (0.1 pips), USD/JPY (0.1 pips), GBP/USD (0.1 pips most days) and XAU/USD (0.12 USD) all week. IG Group and ThinkMarkets followed with 10 each. The widest outlier was XM on EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY, consistently quoting 2 to 2.5 pips versus BlackBull's 0.1.
Market Context
- S&P Global US PMIs due 21 August were expected to ease slightly while still showing solid growth, a data point traders watched alongside stable US index spreads.
To Watch Next Week
- FXTM, IC Markets and FOREX.com outage status, all three were down every day this week and their return would change broker coverage counts across instruments.